Portal:Disney

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Introduction

The Walt Disney Company is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation division, began to decline. In 1984, Disney's shareholders voted Michael Eisner as CEO, who led a reversal of the company's decline through a combination of international theme park expansion and the highly successful Disney Renaissance period of animation in the 1990s. In 2005, under new CEO Bob Iger, the company continued to expand into a major entertainment conglomerate with the acquisitions of Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios. In 2020, Bob Chapek became the head of Disney after Iger's retirement. However, Chapek was ousted in 2022 and Iger was reinstated as CEO.

The company is known for its film studio division Walt Disney Studios, which includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Animation, and Searchlight Pictures. Disney's other main business units include divisions in television, broadcasting, streaming media, theme park resorts, consumer products, publishing, and international operations. Through these divisions, Disney owns and operates the ABC television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic; publishing, merchandising, music, and theater divisions; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Disney+, Star+, ESPN+, Hulu, and Hotstar; and Disney Experiences, which includes several theme parks, resort hotels, and cruise lines around the world. (Full article...)

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Selected article

Presto is a 2008 American Pixar computer-animated short film shown in theaters before their feature length film WALL-E. The short is about a magician trying to perform a show with his uncooperative rabbit and is a gag-filled homage to classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes. Presto was directed by veteran Pixar animator Doug Sweetland, in his directorial debut. The original idea for the short was a magician who incorporated a rabbit into his act who suffered from stage fright. This was considered to be too long and complicated, and the idea was reworked. To design the theater featured in Presto, the filmmakers visited several Opera Houses and theaters for set design ideas. Problems arose when trying to animate the theater's audience of 2,500 patrons—which was deemed too expensive—and was solved by showing the back of the audience. Reaction to the short was very positive, and reviewers of WALL-E's home media release considered it to be an enjoyable special feature. One critic called Presto a "winner through and through", while another found it to be "a short and hilarious animated film".Presto was nominated for an Annie Award and Academy Award. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2008.

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Credit: Coolcaesar

An entrance to Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California

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These are images of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, The Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney in their respective articles.

Image 1Walt Disney (center) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954 (from Disneyland)
Image 2Disneyland Railroad Engine 2 at the New Orleans Square station. (from Disneyland)
Image 3Map of the resort as of May 2015 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 4Critter Country
(Splash Mountain; 1989–2023) (from Disneyland)
Image 5Disney's promotional logo for its centennial. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 6The 1996 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 7Mickey's Toontown
(pictured in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 8The Sherman Brothers, who composed many of the Disney songs throughout the 1960s (pictured in 2002) (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 9Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005, expanding the company's properties (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 10Disney security vehicle, picture taken July 2, 2009 in front of Epcot (from Walt Disney World)
Image 11Disney family at Schiphol Airport (1951) (from Walt Disney)
Image 12Disney drawing Goofy for a group of girls in Argentina, 1941 (from Walt Disney)
Image 13Walt Disney's business envelope featured a self-portrait, c. 1921 (from Walt Disney)
Image 14The original logo of Walt Disney World from 1971 to the mid-1990s (from Walt Disney World)
Image 15Disney's childhood home (from Walt Disney)
Image 16Tomorrowland
(Space Mountain in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 17A Disney Cruise Line bus which takes guest to and from Terminal 8 from Orlando International Airport; as well as around Walt Disney World. (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 18Disney's video streaming subscription service Disney+ was launched in 2019, which has a total of over 135 million subscriptions as of June 2022. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 19An aerial shot of Walt Disney World in 1982 (from Walt Disney World)
Image 20Roy E. Disney, Roy O. Disney's son, was head of the animation department until 2003. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 21Disney Magic at Port of Venice (from Disney Cruise Line)
Image 22Disney in 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 23Walt (center) showing the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 24Walt (right) dressed as a gaucho next to Donald Duck in Argentina while on the company's South American goodwill trip in 1941. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 25Jeffrey Katzenberg was chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1995. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 26View of Disney Springs (from Walt Disney World)
Image 27Main Street, U.S.A.
(2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 28Disney shows the plans of Disneyland to officials from Orange County in December 1954 (from Walt Disney)
Image 29Alice and characters from her movie host "Disneyland Musical Chairs" at Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, accompanied by a ragtime pianist. (from Disneyland)
Image 30The "Happiest Homecoming on Earth" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the theme park. Sleeping Beauty Castle was altered for the occasion. (from Disneyland)
Image 31The 2018 version of The Walt Disney World logo. (from Walt Disney World)
Image 32Grave of Walt Disney at Forest Lawn, Glendale (from Walt Disney)
Image 33Team Disney – The Michael D. Eisner Building, the main building at the Walt Disney Studios, which houses the offices of Disney's CEO and several other senior corporate officials. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 34Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
(Star Wars: Millennium Falcon – Smugglers Run in 2019) (from Disneyland)
Image 35Fantasmic! finale on July 4, 2010 (from Disneyland)
Image 36Walt Disney introduces each of the seven dwarfs in a scene from the original 1937 Snow White theatrical trailer (from Walt Disney)
Image 37Monorail Red travels over the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage in Tomorrowland. (from Disneyland)
Image 38Roy O. Disney inspecting design plans on-site in Florida (from Walt Disney World)
Image 39Adventureland entrance
(2006) (from Disneyland)
Image 40The original animation building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, which they fully moved into in 1940 (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 41Walt Disney (left) with his brother Roy O. Disney (right) and then Governor of Florida W. Haydon Burns (center) on November 15, 1965, publicly announcing the creation of Disney World (from Walt Disney World)
Image 42Disneyland fireworks from Sleeping Beauty Castle (from Disneyland)
Image 43One of four arches welcoming guests to the resort (from Walt Disney World)
Image 44Overlay of Walt Disney's original 1966 plans for Disney World and the proposed EPCOT city (orange) and contemporary situation (blue) (from Walt Disney World)
Image 45Wedding Pavilion at the Seven Seas Lagoon (from Walt Disney World)
Image 46An aerial view of Disneyland in 2004 (from Disneyland)
Image 47New Orleans Square
(the Haunted Mansion in the background and Fantasmic! viewing area in the foreground in 2010) (from Disneyland)
Image 48Disney bought The Muppets from the Jim Henson Company in 2004. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 49Hollywood Studios' park icon, the Chinese Theatre (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 50Fantasyland
(Peter Pan's Flight in the foreground and the Matterhorn Bobsleds in the background) (from Disneyland)
Image 51Frontierland
(Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in 2008) (from Disneyland)
Image 52One of Disney's first animated characters Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which Disney lost the rights to until 2006. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 53Main Street at Disneyland, as seen from a horseless carriage (from Disneyland)
Image 54Excerpt of Steamboat Willie (1928), the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 55Michael Eisner replaced Ron Miller as CEO. (from The Walt Disney Company)
Image 56The Walt Disney World Monorail System provides free transport across the resort.
Image 57Disneyland aerial view, 1963, which includes the new Melody Land Theater at the top of the photo (from Disneyland)
Image 58A portrait of Disney with cartoon representations of different nationalities on a 6-cent U.S. postage stamp, 1968 (from Walt Disney)
Image 59Walt, Florida Governor W. Haydon Burns, and Roy announcing the plans for Disney World in November 1965 (from The Walt Disney Company)

Selected biography

Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (born December 9, 1960) is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series. Marsh was born in Santa Monica, California, where he grew up with a heavily blended family dynamic. Marsh has been and continues to be a driving force behind several animation projects, working for over six seasons on the animated television series The Simpsons. Marsh continued to work on other animated television series, including King of the Hill and Rocko's Modern Life, before moving to England in 1996. While in England, Marsh worked on several animated programs, including Postman Pat and Bounty Hamster, and worked for BKN New Media Ltd. to produce several feature films. After six years living in England, Marsh was asked by his longtime partner Dan Povenmire to help produce Phineas and Ferb in 2007, a concept the two had while working together on Rocko's Modern Life. Marsh accepted and moved back to the United States; the series has since garnered Marsh two Emmy Awards nominations for songwriting.

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that, for the Space 220 Restaurant, Disney reached out to NASA engineers to understand what a space elevator might look like?
... that a revival of the comedy series Lizzie McGuire was ordered in 2019, but canceled mid-production after Disney deemed it not family-friendly enough?
... that before the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan opened, its workers were sent to Walt Disney World for training?
... that Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company alleging that the release strategy for Black Widow breached her contract?
... that the ferry General Joe Potter at Walt Disney World is named in honor of Major General William Everett Potter?
... that vaccine coverage at schools around the Disneyland Resort was too low for herd immunity when measles broke out in 2014?

Selected quote

Gee Mr Spirit! There's a lot more to mathematics than two times two.

— Donald Duck, Donald in Mathmagic Land, 1955

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More Did you know...

...that Dan Povenmire was at a Wild Thyme restaurant in South Pasadena, California, when he first drew the character Phineas Flynn?

...that the 1935 Disney cartoon Three Orphan Kittens was later censored for having negative portrayals of African Americans?

...that Walt Disney started sketching Disney Characters in 1908?
...that there is something called a Hidden Mickey, a hidden silhouette of Mickey's ears inserted into many Disney feature films?
... that the most valuable cartoon movie poster was a poster for the Walt Disney short, Alice's Day at the Sea (USA 1924), was sold in London England at $36534.00 in 1994.

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